Sustainable development goals, values of geodiversity and geosystem services from a geomorphological perspective

The Earth is a wonderful place for humans to live. Unfortunately, we easily forget how much it has to offer us in the abiotic and biotic spheres. The abiotic sphere in particular goes unnoticed by humans as the basis for their existence. If today we are faced with vital problems such as climate change, changes in land cover and land use, the drying up of vast areas of land, and increasingly frequent flooding, then we are undoubtedly facing numerous and serious environmental, social, economic and even political challenges. These problems cannot be left to themselves; immediate steps must be taken to act quickly to protect the Earth's surface. Perhaps the Sustainable Development Goals, the assessment and protection of geodiversity and the reasonable management of geosystem services are a way to at least partially solve these issues.

We all have a responsibility to successfully transform the world. Our actions today affect the lives of our children and future generations. Everyone deserves equal opportunities. We can achieve a lot with the Sustainable Development Goals because they are universal and do not leave out anyone or anything. Moreover, the goals are interlinked and interdependent. If we understand this, we realise the need to act on many levels, and this in turn will bring us closer to achieving the harmonious use of the abiotic environment.

A particular attribute of geodiversity is its value expressed in different measures. Among the most important values of geodiversity are intrinsic, economic, functional, cultural, scientific with educational and aesthetic values. Each of these measures of value relates to our planet's unique and invaluable resources, which should be protected through wise management. This balancing of resources is difficult but extremely necessary to preserve our civilisation and biodiversity.

Geosystem services are related to goods and services arising specifically from the Earth's surface and subsurface resources. These services include abiotic components that are important and should be taken into account in the assessment and protection of geodiversity. As for ecosystem services, four main groups can be distinguished: supporting, providing, regulating and cultural.

The aim of this presentation is to find and clarify the sequence between sustainable development goals, geosystem services and geodiversity values and their assessments, especially from a geomorphological perspective.